Glens hope to land Braniff in swap deal

Talks open between clubs to complete swap move before window closes

Glentoran are hoping to complete the signing of Glenavon attacker Kevin Braniff before the January transfer window closes on Monday night, with any deal dependent on the Lurgan Blues completing the signing of centre half Calum Birney from The Oval.

Braniff has struggled to nail down a place in Glenavon's line-up in recent weeks, and Alan Kernaghan would be willing to offer him first team assurances. Both clubs are keen to ensure the deals go through - although talks are still at a tentative stage - reports The Sun NI.

Centre-half Birney has spent his entire professional career at Glentoran since coming through their youth ranks, while Braniff signed for Gary Hamilton's side in 2014 after infamously falling out with Portadown boss Ronnie McFall - after spending eight years at Shamrock Park. He has also had spells at Millwall, Rushden and Diamonds, and Canvey Island.

Glentoran have signed a pre-contract agreement with former Crusaders striker Stephen O'Flynn - who signed a temporary deal at Ballinamallard this week - but are keen to strengthen their attacking options before then, while they have also brought in midfielder Chris Morrow on a loan deal from Crusaders and attacker Chris Lavery from Lurgan Celtic.

The Glens are taking Dergview defensive pair Jude Ballard and Gareth Porter on trial, to assess them first-hand at training before deciding whether or not to offer them new contracts.

Glens Niall Henderson and Conor McMenamin have both been made available to other clubs.